It Will Make or Break Us
by willowfaust
Summary: "What kind of bargain," the wolf asked eyeing the shot glass with mistrust. He had gotten the letter in the mail this morning asking him to meet the vamp here this evening and asking him not to tell his pack mates. That made him uneasy about the whole situation to start with. But letter said there was a good reason."I have a business proposal for you Mr. Black." Very AU
1. Sign of the Times

The wolf looked across the beat up old table to the empty chair that reeked of leech. The scent was burning in his nose. What could the leech possibly want? He knew who it was by the scent. They had given this one a special name, Translator. He was telepathic. He made it so the werewolves did not have to shift to communicate the vampire coven. When the pack had to speak to the coven, it was usually him and the head of house that they would meet with. He was not as bad as the others were, most of the time. This was saying a lot.

Blondie was a bitch. Technical she was a blond bombshell, but her attitude got in the way. Her mate was a big hulk of a vamp that made no bones about his wishes to see the wolves cross the boundary line. After a few visits, the one the pack called asked that the couple not come with them.

Sam, who was the alpha, was asked once why and Translator would only tell them that he did not enjoy the headaches of dealing with them two.

There was another couple, strangely matched, but perfect for each other. She was 4'9" with short spiky black hair, and he was 6'3" covered in scares with shoulder length blond lose curls. The male always put him on edge. The little female didn't say one way or another why they stopped coming to the boundary line, but they were usually somewhere up wind and nearby.

That left the patriarch and matriarch of the coven. The matriarch was rarely seen, but the one time he had seen her it was brief. She looked like walking breathing character from an old silent movie. She had long caramel colored hair and big bright eyes and was very shy.

Carlisle was the Coven's leader, the father, the sire, and the town doctor. That was another book that he was not going to open today. He was a calm leader. He was a pacifist, something that was unheard of in tribal lore; a sign of the times. That thought caused a snort.

Another sign of the times was happening now. Translator had asked him to meet him here. Why? He hadn't figured that one out yet. He was asked to come and meet him here. Here was in town called Olympia, not too far from Forks. About 30 minutes by way the wolf runs.

When Jacob had entered the building, it appeared to be a rundown old warehouse of some kind. The floors were covered in rubbish. There was one lone table in the center of the room with 2 chairs and bottle of liquor. There were some papers there too.

Even now, he did not like this. It was too out place.

Picking the bottle up he noticed it was Scotch. It would have been rude to pour a shot uninvited. Then realizing that there were no shot glasses he had to smile a little. No leech, no shot glass, but the burning bleach smell was thick, must nearby.

"I am," Translator's voice floated from a set rickety stairs in the corner. "I do have a name," he said walking at a human's pace to the table. It was unsettling when one of them moved quickly. A faint blur would be all you would see. "I know and that's why I do things like that." The vamp said and set down two double size shot glasses on the table by the bottle. "For the sake of this meeting, please, call me Edward," and then he sat down.

The vampire had a peculiar coppery shade of hair and his boyish face made him look like a kid. He dressed like an older man and spoke with a bit of an accent, but Jacob could not place where. The clothing and the way he talked made him seem about 21 or 22.

"Chicago, turn of the century." That is what made him sound older. "That's the whole point." And the wolf hated it when the vamp did that. "Sorry, I do that with everyone I know." The wolf signed and sat back in the chair. It wasn't worth the energy to get mad about it. It was like dealing with the pack on one level, but a little one-sided. _Get on with it_. Edward nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"I asked you here today, to make a bargain." He uncorked the bottle of clear liquor and started to pour a double for both. "Careful, I've had this bottle a few decades. It is very dry, so I kept a few in the cellar with the wine." Edward slid a glass to him.

"What kind of bargain," the wolf asked eyeing the shot glass with mistrust. He had gotten the letter in the mail this morning asking him to meet the vamp here this evening and asking him not to tell his pack mates. That made him uneasy about the situation to start with. But letter said there was a good reason.

"I have a business proposal for you Mr. Black." Jacobs's eyes turned toward the paperwork in front of him. _Yeah, I need that shot now_, making a deal with a white devil never turned out well for his people. The vampire in turn gave him a half-smile and small nod of understanding. "I understand your quandary, and I find irony that it is not because I am a vampire. But white devil is a good description either way."

"What is it Cullen?" Whatever it was, it had his curiosity up.

"Officially we are both 21 now, Legal to drink, Legal to be in a bar, and Legal to own a bar." With that last remark the vamp raised his glass and waited for Jacob to do the same. The wolf stared for a moment. He didn't know that vampires could drink. "Yes, we can. We have to keep to a liquid diet. Nevertheless, we still have to be careful. More than a cup of water will make us sick to our stomachs but alcohol is different."

Taking the bottle this time, Jacob poured a healthy set of shots for both. He could drink like a fish and had put many of hard nose bikers under the table because they thought he was just a kid. His body's metabolism ran extremely high and his body temperature stayed a constant 108 degrees.

"Scotch…thanks you. Never tried it before. The burn is slow. Why a bar?"

"Why not?" and the vampire poured another for both. "The alcohol burn, it helps the burn in the back of my throat. The smell of humans makes my throat burn constantly." Edward nursed his shot. Jacob could tell there was something on his mind. It was a few minutes before the vampire seem to become aware of the wolf. "I need a cover story. I need a reason to have the money that is in this name." _This name_? Edward shot him a queasy look for a second and set his unfinished drink back on the ratty old table.

"As a wolf, have you given any thought about the rest of your life?" Edward waited a minute, but Jacob only shook his head to say no. "I was afraid of that," he mumbled to himself. "How long do one of you guys live?"

"Hmmm…As long I keep shifting, I guess forever. Why? Why would you care Leech?" Jacob threw back another shot. Edward in a courteous manner finished his drink and poured another round.

"I care, because, for the first time in damn near a century, I have neighbors that I don't have to hide from." Edward looked at the wolf and gave him a toothy grin. He enjoyed watching the huge Indian squirm for a moment. "The bonus is you're not a vampire."

"Why is that a good thing?"

"Because, I don't normally get along with my kind. Vampire and werewolves have more in common than you think, Jacob."

The only thing Edward heard in response was a sputter as Jacob tried to drink his shot at the sometime he told him this. Slowly (for him), he refilled his drink and sat back down.

"One," Edward said while holding up a finger. "Vampires are extremely territorial. We do not like others hunting in our area. If you are an animal drinker, it is because you do not want the announcement. If you're not, it's because you don't want to share." He watched as another run down Jacob's spin.

"Two, we are both prone to out living a normal human." The wolf nodded in agreement. "Do you know how to do that?" There was uncomfortable silence. He was truly stunned. Even his mind had quieted down. "I was afraid of that. The thought had never crossed your mind, did it? Maybe it did and you it out of your mind…You knew it would happen, but not…how."

"You see, the modern world has made life difficult for folks like you and me. I am more than willing to help. I can show you a few cheats and short cuts along the way."

"I guess this is the part where I ask what the catch is." He asked eying the vamp.

"I need to make a paper trail." Jacob frowned and set his unfinished shot back on the table.

"Go on," he said.

The easiest way to do that is to have job or start a business. Seeing as I can play the part of spoil rich kid with money burning a hole in pocket: that mean I can have some fun with this." Edward paused for moment to let this sink in. He liked the way Jacob could guard his thoughts so well. His tribe, when they shifted, was telepathic in wolf form. A fringe benefit was starting to show.

"You want me to work for you?"

"No."

"Then what do you want."

To be business partners. I will be the bankroll. You run it. I will help you at first. I will work out on the floor with you or whatever you need. In a few years,I will leave town, you can run as you see fit. All I ask is that the loft is mine and I can come and go as I please. Don't worry about staying in the black. I really don't care." He paused to see if he had lost the kid.

Jacob was not saying anything. His thoughts were swirling around. He could feel how close he was to giving in. School was not working for him. He had tried college twice now. It would not take much to push him over the edge.

"And in a few years, before anyone can notice that you're not aging, you leave for a few years. You have fun, travel the world for a while, and you come back in couple of years pretending to be family of some kind and take over the family business." Edward hoped he had sweetened the pot enough that the wolf took the bait.

"Deal"

"Hmmm…." That was quicker than he thought it would take. "Well, as it stands, we have some paperwork." Edward said with a small half-smile.


	2. Wolf Dream

SM owns all.

A note to my guest reviewer, I need away to send you a PM. I started out wanting it to have Bella but I don't know yet. I'm letting the story write itself. A Jakeward? No this Edward is straight. This time.

The heavy smoke left the air smelling of old bark and dried moss. Old Quil sat across from Leah in the smoke lodge. She had been sitting still for over an hour now. It had taken nearly a half hour for her heartbeat to slow down. After the heart's cadence had evened out and steadied, he left her alone for a few minutes.

Leah had come to him a week ago. Wanting to start over. To pick a new path. To get over Sam. Well, that not what she said. But that's how he took.

He had spent the last 45 minutes softly talking to her. Getting her in the right frame of mind. It was up to Leah If he could actually help her.

" Leah," Quill whispered in the air above the smoke and coals. "Can you still hear me?"

"Yes," she said drowsily. Good.

"What are you doing?'

"Standing."

"Where? Tell me where you are."

"I'm at the cliffs. The one that over looks. Where the boys like to dive. It's almost sunset. The sky is starting to turn purple and red." Her eyes where closed like his. They each drew a slow breath together.

At one time their forefathers walked in spirit and bonded with the different elements of nature. Quail tapped that energy now, he wanted to help the hurting child.

Beside her, she could feel him like he was standing next to her. In her mind-scape that was where she saw him. In her minds eye, he did not seem so old. He watched her as she took her time to examining the world painted around her. She may not had realized it but the old Shaman did. This was her favorite place. Where she was safe.

They both froze as pack of wolves played long the edges of the cliffs. The Shaman studied them as the moved and played. 13 of them. He was sure he new who at least 8 of them was. It was strange to see so many. This was as big as he had ever seen the pack. This was not something that Leah was aware of. She only saw a pack of wolves at play.

A small gray wolf stood apart from the pack. A larger reddish-brown wolf sat at the Little Gray's back. Guarding him, no her. A female wolf. He was behind her.

Something made all the wolves look up at once. Toward something in the woods. The woods was behind them. All but the red and the gray took off in chase. Little Gray looked towards them.

"Leah," Quil whispered in her ear. "Have you ever given thought to old stories, that old men like to tell?" She was to busy watching the wolf that now walking shyly and wearily, in their direction. Little Gray was skittish. She had been hurt before. The big red wolf sat where he was unmoved but watching.

A deep, low growl spread through the air along with a foggy mist that pulled it self slowly from the ground. The sky and the air was darkening around them. They could hear the wolves howling and yipping in the treeline.

Something cat-like hissed back at the wolves and then took off toward the darkest part of the forest. That bothered the Shaman. A few gave chase like it was a big game. Like puppies chasing a house cat.

"What are you feeling?"

"That...Like I want to go...That way." She was looking at where the pack has run off

"Like you want to join in?"

"No."

"But I still want to chase."

"Leah, it is time to go." She looked back at the two wolves and where the others had given chase. She only nodded, still watching Little Gray. "Close your eyes and listen to my voice. I want you slowly open your eyes and look at me." Quil opened his own eyes and looked at the rave haired girl in front of him.

Three hours had pasted outside of Dream-time. Time was relative outside of this smoke lodge. Quil slowly let his old bones move. You had to wake up your muscles a few at a time. Him and Leah did it slowly. First you wiggly your toes. Then move up to your ankles. Next, the knees. Those always ached here lately. Last the hips. That didn't feel much better.

Leah was already standing by the door, looking out. He could feel her churning the events of the spirit walk over in her mind.

"Here, help old man up." Quil called out to Leah. He held his hand and she grasped it. Effortless she pulled him up. On paper he was 68. In reality, he a little more than 105. For many years he was wolf warrior, now he was the Shaman and a spirit walker. He was the last of Ephraim's generation.

His son never changed. But his grandson had started showing signs. In one month, the boy had shot up 3" and still going. He was starting to put on muscles. His son was in denial what was happening to his son. Old Quil knew it was a matter time before the fevers started.

The broken girl in front of him still staring out the open doorway. She needed to learn how to live again.

"Change of scenery will do you good," the Shaman. He walked to the the wood stove and added a few pieces of wood to the fire to heat to room again. Leah didn't look at him. That was okay. He needed to get her out of here. He had a sneaking suspension that he would get to meet Little Grey soon. And she didn't need to be anywhere near Sam when it happened.


	3. Left Unsaid

I am so sorry guys. Had a bad case of writer's block. Feel free to review or PM me (even of it only to egg me on) Wow, I still can't believe the reviews. Thanks a million to everyone that reviewed, PM, followed and favorite me! Now, on with the story. SM still owns it all.

Leah had been staring at the want ads for almost a half hour now. The inky black letters were not going to magical rearrange themselves and tell her something new.

Her parents owned a little gas station that looked like a cabin with two old gas pumps side by side on a lonely leg of the highway. It had a pool table in one back corner and an old worn out checker board in the other corner with a few timeworn metal folding chairs. The walls and floor were dark and worn with age. There was a couple of rows in the middle and there was the front counter with the register. She was sitting on a tall black stool watching the register. The gas station mostly carried sodas, candy snacks, and there a few dry goods mixed in with a few car supplies

Quil and her hadn't talked much since the Spirit walk. That was fine. She could feel his eyes on her now. He was sitting at the checkerboard, drinking his black coffee and staring at the rest of the morning paper. Leah had taken out the Job Classifieds. Quil was left to put the paper back together before he could start reading it. This was normal for him, he hated for things to be out of order.

The itch between her shoulder blades was starting again. She looked up to look around the semi-empty station. She thought she had heard something.

Somedays this place was packed. Others, it was empty until noon. Her mother let her run the station in the morning and would show up late afternoon. It part of highway 101 was not busy this time of year.

It was the tail end of winter. It was wet, damp, and cold. Had been cold. Past few weeks she had been running a slight fever off and on. Her mother pasted it off as winter chills.

She heard a beat up engine coming down the highway. Looking up, she didn't see the truck for a moment. Then it came into view.

Sam.

Signing, she put her head back down, and willed the want ads to divulge something new. Anything. She still wanted to be near friends and family, but away from the daily reminders of pain.

Old Quil was watching out the large windows that ran down the front of the gas station, as Sam pulled up. Sam stopped to put gas in the truck and then walked in to pay. He laid a 20 down on the counter. Instead of leaving, he walked back to sit with Quil.

Normally he would wait until after Leah's shift was over before he got gas. He acted like he was pain to see her. _Bite me Asshole, you took my heart and my best friend. _Emily was the girl Sam left her for. Emily was Leah's cousin and best friend. Now there was two gaping holes in her chest. Betrayal is a powerful thing.

"What is Jake doing?" Leah could hear Sam and Quil whispering in the back corner. She could feel her ears twitching at the sound. She kept her eyes down at the paper. None of her business. "He split from the Pack."

"He is trying to make his way in the wold, son." Quil was trying to be quite. But Leah could heard them like she was standing next to them. "He is using the tools that were left to him."

"But the Leech?"

"Is a tool." The old man said sharply. His tone left no room to question.

The gossip she heard was that Sam and Jacob had gotten into a knock down, dragged out fight. The winner depended on who you talk to. She hadn't heard from Jake in almost two weeks. She was willing to lay money on her little brother, Seth, knew where he was. Sam was driving everyone she cared about away.

She could feel her temper flaring. The room was starting to get warmer now.

"Fine," Sam growled. "No one wants to hear my warning. Even you old man. You know better than any of them. What are you up to?"

"I am up to nothing, Sam." You could hear a pin drop. In Leah's book, Sam had just cross a new line. Not even an Elder talked to Quil like that. He had the love of the tribe behind him. How much of a bigger asshole could Sam get?

The past couple of weeks, had not gone smoothly for Jacob Black. After signing the paperwork on the business partnership. He was treated like a leper by his own kinfolk.

Every wolf had to run the territory lines once a day. After his turn was over, some of the other wolves shifted. In a wolf pack, there is no secrets. They immediately got to see what had transpired. He was meet with many things. Fear, disgust, distrust, worry, and that was the tip of the iceberg.

14 days since he had signed that paper in black ink. Now he was shunned. His father acted like this a was pact with the devil. Like he had signed his name with his own blood.

Two weeks of sleeping on Chief Swan's couch. Charlie Swan and his father were close friends. Charlie didn't understand what the problem. The treaty prevented Jake and Billy Black from even hinting that there was a clan of bloodsucking vampires living under his nose. He was caught between a rocky old treaty and diamond hard vampire.

Pulling up, Jake saw a Black Mercedes-Benz SL65 an a silver and gray Harley Davidson V-Rod sitting in front of the warehouse. He couldn't resist glossing over the car, oh yes, it was nice. The bike made him stop. Painted silver and matte gray with hand painted black pinstriped. It was heavily modified. Look at it later, Jake told himself.

Inside the warehouse he could hear the a bloodsucker talking to someone. Female and vampire, from the smell it. Great, a long day made longer

A large door opened to the side of the building and a woman with caramel colored hair strolled out meet him. She smelled of fruit and bleach. So sweet it burned. Dusk had set in and the sky had been cloudy all day.

"Hello," she said and held her hand out to greet him. Gingerly he took it, one shake. Done. That made his sin crawl.

She was nice enough to work with. Had several degrees in architecture and interior design. Not to mention she could match him swing for swing with the demolition hammer.

Found out later that Edward was leaving the designing to Jake and Esme. He apparently could care less. Jake was surprised. Asked Esme about it, she only shrugged and said that she had him well trained.

This was not the first time Edward had done something like this. Not on this scale, but same idea.

Last time he had found an artist to become a patron of. Some kid off the street that was good and would keep his mouth shut of where the money came from. Esme set him up with a house and a car in the country with full permission for an artist colony. He was brilliant painter and Esme bought a good bit of his art wares and donated them to different hospitals that Carlisle had worked in over the years.

This was more normal than Jake had thought. A quite human, allowed to live out their life in comfort. All he had to do was make a paper trail. Answer the door for the mail man. And questions were answered in the right way. It still seemed to easy. Something didn't seem right. This was too easy. There was still something nagging at him.

Right now he needed to think about the here and now. Yes he was use using his strength and it felt good to flex, but doing it at the speed of a vampire was harder for long periods of time. By the end of the day the first floor was gutted.

They stopped around 8 o'clock to the sound of Jake's stomach growling. Esme stopped long enough to hand him her keys an a fifty dollar bill. When he got back, all the trash had been swept away and the floor was cleaned. He could smell both of the vampires' scents fresh in the room. How much had Esme been holding back? The floor of the warehouse was almost 10,000 square feet.

In the far right corner he noticed they had made a makeshift table with sawhorses and plywood. On one half the "table" was a set of blueprints. The ends were held down with cellphones and tools. Jake slide the pizza boxes on to the other end. He wasn't as hungry as when he started out. He had already finished one box off in the car. There was still three boxes to go. He noticed Edward lighting a cigarette when he open the pizza box. Esme was pouring over the blueprints. She didn't seem to mind the smell of human food or she use to it.

Walking to the other end of the table he could see there was over a dozen plans laid out. "You need to look these and tell what you think," she said quietly. She was talking lower than a human could hear. He thought that her and Edward were being rude and didn't realized that he could hear them. "Do you always talk this low?"

"And quicker," She nodded with a small amused smile at the corners of her lips. "When we talk loud enough was a normal person to hear us, we call it a rough voice." Kinda singsong like. "I need you to show me what you think of plans."

For several hours they poured over the plans. Edit, redraft, and start over all together. According to Esme this was the hardest part. The only part That Edward give any input was the sound, stage, and lighting. Maybe the vampire really didn't care what he did with it.

Edward glanced at him briefly and shrugged. Esme was more excited about the whole ordeal than Edward.

About an hour later he hear a low menacing growl. Edward had wondered to a different side of the room with a tape measure and a large chunk of chalk Jake and Esme stood stock still trying to see what he was growling at.

There was nothing there. After a few second he wasn't growling anymore. But he was staring off to the side of the room.

Esme walked over to Edward and tapped on his arm and motioned him to follow her. When asked what he saw, he would shake his and say nothing.

After Quil and Sam had left , Leah's mom showed up. That was just as well, she wasn't feeling good. Sue Clearwater pulled her into a tight hug and told her to go home and lay down. Sue took a hand full of hair on both sides of her head and pulled her face down to Sue's.

"I thought you were done growing after you turned 16," Sue mumbled under her breath. Leah had not been 16 for six years. She kissed Leah on the forehead. Leah knew she was doing this to check her temperature and didn't want to let on she was worried. "Go home," Sue told her and pushed her car keys at Leah. "Your dad will pick me up later." Leah nodded and did what she was told.

When she got home, she found that she was restless. She did her best to wear herself out before evening. Before her parents got home. She felt like she was in high school again.

After her and Sam had split, she moved back in with Sue and Harry. At first there was a lot of anger in her, now there more sadden and bitterness.

The room was starting to spin. Time to go lay down. It took awhile before she could lay down and go to sleep. Everything would start to spin when she closed her eyes. Finely she was able to drift off to sleep.

She found herself standing in an old gutted out warehouse with dark brown red brickwork walls. Something in the back of her mind was comparing this to the spiritwalk with Quil.

She could feel the air move against her skin. Realizing that there was someone else standing near by, she raised her eyes and turned her head. The building was only half lit and dim. Her eyes landed on a young man with messy hair.

He was staring at her in surprise. He sniffed the air like a wild animal. Around the edge of her hair line and her backbone there was a prickling sensation. He was staring hard at her. Then she heard the growling, low and deadly.

Painfully, hot needles crawled across every inch of her skin. She woke up with every inch of her drenched in hot sweat. She was trembling. All she wanted to do was crawl to the shower. She couldn't stand. The room tilted. She ended up crawling across the floor with her eyes closed, peeking every so often to right her path to the bath. Once there, she laid against the cold porcelain of the tub until the room quit moving. She couldn't remember begin this sick before.


End file.
